Close Yet Far
by AgentKaz
Summary: Gorillaz fanfic. 2D is invisible? What is up this time?
1. Chapter 1

NOTES: Wow, this one's old. I finally got around to typing it up. It's lame, but interesting. Enjoy.

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chapter one-[you are lost

2D woke up with a headache. Not a big one, but it was annoying. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it, though. He got a lot of headaches, and they were usually worse. And he didn't particularly feel like taking painkillers at the moment. So, he hoped it would go away. Sometimes they did.

He got up and navigated his way around the things on his floor. He decided to go to the kitchen for breakfast, because he was a little hungry. He was also still a bit tired, but he didn't think he could go back to sleep.

When he got to the kitchen, it was empty. And for some reason he didn't feel very hungry anymore. He blinked. He didn't really feel like doing anything.

Noodle and Russel walked into the kitchen. "Hey," 2D said. They said nothing. Then Murdoc walked in. "You see dullard lately?" he asked Russel and Noodle. 2D stared. "What d'you mean? I'm right here," he said. "No, we haven't seen him," Noodle said.

Something just didn't click. 2D was right there, but nobody noticed him? He must have been too quiet, and they probably didn't see him, 2D concluded. He walked over to them. "Hey, I'm right here," he said again, louder this time. Murdoc seemed to ignore him though.

"He's probably in his room," Russel said. 2D blinked. "No I'm not!" he said. "I'm right here!" "He's usually up around now," Murdoc said. "He's not being his annoying self. It's nice, actually." 2D waved his arms in front of Murdoc's face. "Muds, I'm right here, don't you see me?" 2D asked.

Apparently, Murdoc didn't notice him. Neither did Noodle or Russel. They went on talking as if 2D wasn't even there. 2D stared at them, then laughed. "Oh, I get it," he said. "This is a joke, right? Is this 'Pretend 2D's Not Here Day' or something? Well, maybe I should pretend you guys aren't here either."

There was no reaction. 2D blinked. "Erm... okay, it's not really funny anymore..." he said. "You can stop now..." Once again, it seemed they ignored him. "I'm going to see if he is in his room," Noodle said, and walked away.

2D followed her. "Noodle, I'm not in there, I'm right here!" he said, but Noodle kept on walking. They went into 2D's room. "2D, are you in here?" Noodle asked. "Erm, yeah, now I am," 2D said. "2D?" Noodle called again. "Here! I'm here!" 2D yelled. "Can't you see me? I'm here! This joke isn't funny, Noodle! It isn't! I'm right here!"

Noodle looked around again. "He... is not here," she said sadly. And then 2D realized this was no joke. Noodle was genuinely sad. She really couldn't see him. And that meant neither could Murdoc or Russel. Nobody was joking. It wasn't a prank.

2D's mind was reeling. How? What? Why? Why couldn't anyone see him? Was he invisible? He couldn't be invisible, he thought, looking at his hands. He could see himself. Nobody could hear him either. The whole thing was very confusing. What was going on?

He followed Noodle again. She was looking for Murdoc and Russel, to tell them that she couldn't find 2D. Even though he was right behind her. But she didn't know that. "Dullard wasn't in the cinema," Murdoc said. "He was not in his room," Noodle said, sadly. "Is he anywhere?" Russel asked. "Yes! I am! I'm here! In front of you!" 2D said, but was once again unseen.

"Maybe he's run away," Murdoc said. "The bugger'd probably pull something like that." "I didn't run away..." 2D mumbled, but decided it really was pointless. Nobody could hear him. "For all we know, the face-ache's dead in a gutter or something," Murdoc continued. "No!" Noodle said. "2D is not dead, Maybe he did run away. But he is not dead." 2D sat down on the floor and watched them argue about whether he was dead or not.

"Well, if he's not dead, he'll turn up," Murdoc said. "Yes, he will," Noodle said. "Because he is alive. Just... missing," "Right..." Murdoc said, unconvinced.

2D decided he'd had enough of this. If they couldn't tell he was there, then there was no point in being there. He'd leave. To where, he didn't know. But what did it matter when no-one could see or hear you? He got up and went toward the door. Before he left, he turned around and flipped Murdoc off.

He went out the door, closing it behind him. Murdoc was too busy arguing to hear it, but Russel did. "Hey, you hear something?" he asked, looking at the door. "No," Noodle said. "What did it sound like?" "The door closing," Russel said. He looked at the door again. "I must be imagining things," he said. 


	2. Chapter 2

chapter two-[i walk these streets alone

2D didn't know how long he had been walking for. At least a good solid hour, maybe more, but most likely not less. He had passed quite a few people, but once again, nobody seemed to have noticed him. It was light out, but there were grey clouds in the sky, and it started to rain. 2D sighed; he forgot to bring an umbrella.

He forgot to bring anything, really. But what did it matter? Nobody could see him. It wasn't just his bandmates. It was everyone. Nobody could see him, most likely nobody in the entire universe. It was almost as if he had stopped existing. He wondered if maybe he died and was a ghost or something. That could possibly explain things a little better.

If I'm a ghost, then I could fly, 2D thought. He jumped in an attempt to do so, and he crashed to the ground. Good thing nobody could see him. It hurt. But not too much that he couldn't go on. Okay, he thought, I'm not a ghost, and so I can't fly. So... why can't anyone see me then? He kept walking, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

It started to rain harder. 2D shivered. It was also getting kind of chilly. He had most definitely done some piss-poor-planning here. He should have worn a jacket. But really, who can plan for being invisible? This was pretty short-notice. He shivered again.

Every time he saw someone, he smiled and waved, hoping that they possibly could see him. But, everyone just walked past him. He even tried walking into someone, but whenever he tried to do that, the person would move to the side a little and 2D would miss them. Odd.

He walked past people, cars, buildings, everything, completely unnoticed. The rain kept up and wouldn't stop. 2D was cold, wet, bored, sad, and tired, all at once. The really only good side, and a minor one at that, was that he wasn't being mobbed by the usual bunch of fangirls. But he wouldn't have minded fangirls even, if they actually noticed him.

He sighed. He was not having a good day. He felt another headache coming on. Time went marching on. He walked until he found a bench. He sat down to rest, even though it was raining. He had been walking for who knows how long, and he was very tired. He hoped nobody would sit on him. He stared straight ahead, sighing, wondering if anyone would ever be able to see him again. He closed his eyes.

He woke up to find that he was lying down on the wet bench. He sat up and blinked. It was dark, and the rain had stopped. How he had managed to sleep while it was raining, he had no idea. But he did. He stood up and stretched. At least he wasn't tired anymore. And, for some strange reason, he still wasn't hungry.

He continued walking. It was still very strange, not being seen. It was almost as if his life's purpose had been flushed down the drain because of this whole being invisible thing. Now all he was was a nomad, going from place to place. He had no home anymore, he decided. There was no point in going back to Kong. He had basically stopped existing.

He walked on and on, unsure of where he was going, and never looking back. A few times he even had thoughts of suicide, because everything seemed really sucky. But mostly he didn't even try to go through with it. Although, once, he did try to get in front of a car, which completely missed him. He figured then he probably couldn't be killed by anything, as well as not being seen or heard. So, he kept walking.

He was bored. This chapter's kind of boring. He looked around. There were people around, even though it was night. He hoped one or two people could see him, but the answer was a resounding 'no'. He sighed. He shouldn't have even gotten out of bed, he thought. But no matter, that was the past, he couldn't change it. Unless he had a time machine, which he didn't. So he kept walking. 


	3. Chapter 3

chapter three [visibly invisible

2D continued his walk from nowhere to nowhere. One foot after the other, a steady beat, going nowhere, going everywhere, going anywhere. He had stopped looking where he was going. It didn't matter, he wouldn't ever crash into anybody. But, suddenly...

THWACK! "Ow!" 2D fell to the ground. He looked to see what the hell he ran into. It was a dark-haired woman, wearing black jeans and a black The Who T-Shirt. "I'm sorry!" they both said simultaneously. Then, "You can see me?!" Then they both laughed at how weird this was. "Wow, this is great!" the woman said, shaking her red-and-black streaked hair out of her eyes. "I thought I was alone. You too?"

2D smiled. Someone finally could see him. "Yeah," he said. "I dunno what's going on." "Neither do I," the woman said. "It's so great to be noticed again! It felt like I didn't exist, and I was beginning to think maybe I really didn't," she said. "Oh, yeah. My name's Tara. Sorry, I'm just so surprised to see someone else in my condition. You're 2D, from Gorillaz, right?" she asked. 2D nodded.

"So... erm..." 2D started. "Why...?" "Why am I out here?" Tara finished the question for him. "I don't know. I just... had to get away from everything. I was going to go somewhere with my friends, but... they couldn't see me, and they thought I forgot about them. So... I think I left to try and find answers. You?" she said.

"Erm... well, I left when Murdoc started talking about me being dead. I said I wasn't, but he didn't hear," 2D said. "At first I thought they were playing a joke on me, but..." he trailed off. "But it went on too long?" Tara said. "Yeah..." 2D said.

They started walking together, side by side. "There has to be a reason we ran into each other," Tara said. "This can't just be chance. Something really weird is happening. 2D nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I just wish I knew what it was." He grinned. "Today has been a fucked-up day," he said.

"You can say that again," Tara said. "That's about it in a nutshell. Seems we're screwed, huh?" "Yeah, just about," 2D said. They walked quietly for a moment. "Erm... so... what d'we do?" 2D asked. Tara stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I don't know," she said. "This was all too weird. I didn't do much planning before I left. I just... went." "Yeah, me too," 2D said.

"I don't like the rain," he said, laughing. "Me neither," Tara said. They continued walking, ignored by everyone they passed. "I have a sort of theory," Tara said finally. "It's weird, it doesn't make much sense, and it could just be the result of too much sci-fi, but..." she said. 2D looked at her. "What is it?" he asked.

Tara blinked. "What if... we're in some sort of weird parallel dimension? Y'know, like we can see everyone, but since we're here and they're there, no-one can see us?" she said. "Makes about as much sense as anything else that's happened," 2D said. "Maybe more." "Yeah," Tara said, grinning. "But, y'know, it makes more sense than any other explanation I could give. It's like they say- nothing's impossible."

"Who says that?" 2D asked. Tara shrugged. "I don't know... 'They,' I guess," she said. They both laughed.

"So... we have to figure out how to get out of this dimension thing, then?" 2D asked. "Yeah, I guess so..." Tara said. "I don't even know how we got in in the first place, though..." she said. "So how we're getting out is an even harder question to answer."

"Hey, is there maybe a door or something to get out of here?" 2D asked. Tara smiled. "I doubt it. If things were that easy, I'd've been out of here forever ago." "But I'd still be here," 2D said. Tara laughed. "If I could find it, you could," she said.

They continued their walk. "Why d'you think we can touch things, but not people?" 2D asked. Tara thought for a moment. "Maybe..." she said, "inanimate objects--like rocks and ground and stuff--share both dimensions? But since we're in one and everyone else is in the other, we don't exist there and we can't touch them. It's just a guess, but I'd say it makes some sense."

"Hey!" 2D said, having a sudden idea. "Could we write on paper then? 'Cos I think we could write that we're here and people could see it." Tara blinked. "That's crazy," she said. "So crazy, it just might work. Let's do it!"

"So, are we going back to Kong, or to your place?" 2D asked. "We'll go to Kong," Tara said. "I've wanted to see it anyway." They started walking back the way 2D came. 


	4. Chapter 4

chapter four [here i am

They walked for a while, getting tired, but they finally made it to Kong, talking the whole way. It seemed they had a lot more in common than just their predicament.

They walked up to the door. 2D sighed. "I hope it's still unlocked," he said. "I forgot my keys." It was, so he opened the door and they walked in. Nobody was around. "Erm... let's go find paper and a pen or something first, then we can look for everyone," 2D said. Tara nodded.

Tara followed 2D as he searched for paper and something to write with. He found two pens and a notepad. "Okay, so we've got those," he said. They walked to Noodle's room. "I think she'll be nicest about this," 2D said.

He knocked on the door. "Yes?" Noodle said. 2D opened the door. Noodle stared at the doorway. "Hello?" she said. 2D held up the pen and notepad, and Noodle said. "What?" she said. Floating paper and pen?

2D walked to the middle of the room and sat down, and began to write on the first page. "Noodle, can you see this?" Noodle stared at the words being written on the floating notepad. "Yes," she whispered, "I can see it..."

"It's 2D," 2D wrote. Noodle blinked. "2...D?" she asked quietly. "Are... are you dead?" 2D sighed. "No, not dead," he wrote. "I'm missing. I was there in the kitchen, but you can't see me, can you." Noodle read it. "No, I can't see you..." she said. "Where are you?"

2D thought for a little, then started to write. "Here, but not here. I can't explain it. I'm here and I see you but you can't see me. I'm confused." "I am too," Noodle said. "What happened?"

"No idea," 2D scribbled. "Tara says we might be in another dimension but we don't know why." "Tara?" Noodle asked. "My new friend," 2D wrote. "No one can see her either. How are Russ and Muds?"

"Murdoc went out in the Geep to look for you, but he couldn't find you and he came back. Russel and I stayed here to look," Noodle said. 2D smiled. "Does Muds still think I'm dead?" "Yes, he seems to because he couldn't find you. Russel and I still believed you were alive," Noodle said.

2D grinned. "Can you go get them so I can show them too?" he wrote. Noodle smiled. "Sure! I'll be back," she said, and left. 2D smiled at Tara, who gave him a thumbs-up. "Although we still don't know how to get back," she said. 2D shrugged. "We'll figure it out," he said.

Tara smiled. "Yeah..." she said. Then she kissed 2D. He blinked. Tara smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, man. Pressure," she said. "It's alright," 2D said, smiling. He decided he liked Tara. Even though they had known each other for only a short while, it seemed almost like an eternity because it was only them. 2D kissed Tara back. "Maybe there was a reason we ran into each other," he whispered.

Noodle walked back in, followed by Murdoc and Russel. "What do you mean, dullard's alive?" Murdoc was saying. 2D tore a sheet off of the notepad and started to write. "I'm alive!" he wrote, and held up the notepad. Murdoc read it in disbelief. "What the..." he said. "Yeah, 2D hastily scrawled. "I am. But in another dimension. I think. It's weird." "No shit..." Murdoc mumbled.

2D looked at Tara. "So, what else should I tell them?" he asked. "I dunno, I think that's it," Tara said. "You got anything else?" "How about we ask them for help?" 2D asked.

"How are they gonna help?" Tara asked. "I don't know, but isn't it worth a try?" 2D said. "Well, I guess," Tara said. "What've we got to lose? Go for it."

2D started writing on the paper again. "Help?" he wrote. Murdoc stared at it. "Oh, now he wants help. What can we do, dullard?" "I don't know," 2D wrote. "I was hoping you could help us somehow." "Well, we can't!" Murdoc said. "We can't even see you! Christ, I can't believe I'm talking to nothing here." "I am here, you're talking to me," 2D wrote. "Oh, shut up," Murdoc said. "Or... stop writing."

"Or I won't shut up," 2D wrote. He and Tara laughed. "We need help, have any ideas?" he wrote. Noodle and Russel shook their heads. Tara blinked. "I have an idea," she said, grinning. 


	5. Chapter 5

chapter five-[bringing it on home

2D stared at Tara. "You do?" he asked. Tara nodded. "It's crazy and out there, but it's the best hope we got, considering the circumstances, right?" she said. 2D nodded. "Go on," he said. "Well hopefully it will work..." Tara said.

"Yeah, go on," 2D said. "Okay," Tara said. "So here's my idea. We had to come here somehow, right?" "Yeah..." 2D said. "Right," Tara said. "So there's got to be a way out, and my 'educated' guess is that it's the exact same place we got in!"

"You think so?" 2D asked. "Yeah!" Tara said. "It's worth a try, anyways." "So... If I go back in my room, I can make it back to the regular dimension?" 2D asked. "Maybe," Tara said. 2D smiled and hugged her. "Let's try it!" he said.

"I'll be back," 2D wrote on the paper. "Tara's got an idea. You'll see me if it works." He walked in the direction of his room, motioning for Tara to follow. "Okay," he said, when they got there. "I woke up in my bed, right," 2D said. "So... if I go there, I'll go back?" he asked. "I hope so," Tara said, squeezing 2D's hand. She kissed him. "Rock on, 2D," she whispered.

He went over to his bed and sat down. "So... now what?" he asked. Tara shrugged. "I don't know, wait, I guess." 2D sat on his bed, feeling kind of stupid. "I don't think it's..." he started to say, but stopped. He had a weird feeling in his stomach, like he was on a roller coaster or something, and falling fast. Then he couldn't see Tara anymore. "Tara?" he asked. "I... I think it worked!"

Tara grinned. "Sweet!" she said, but she knew 2D couldn't hear her. She grabbed the pen and paper out of his hand. He blinked. "That you?" he asked. "No, it's most definitely the Muffin Man," Tara wrote. "And this is a stick-up. Give me all of your muffins. Now." 2D laughed. "Are you going to try and get back now?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tara wrote. "I don't think I can get back the way you did. I can try back at my place. It's kind of far, though..." 2D thought for a moment. "Erm... I think we could drive you there," he said. "Follow me," he said, and went back to the lobby.

"Oh, so it really was you, dullard," Murdoc said. "Yeah, I'm not dead, see?" 2D said. "Can I have the keys for the Geep?" "What for?" Murdoc asked. "You can drive?" "'Course I can," 2D said. "Better'n you."

Murdoc punched him in the arm, but gave him the keys. "Don't crash it," he said. "Not like you haven't done that loads of times," 2D said, leaving for the carpark. He turned around to see if the floating pad of paper was following him. Check.

2D got in the Geep. The other door opened and closed. "You in?" 2D asked. "Yeah," Tara wrote. "Let's roll." "Okay, but I'll need to know where you live." Tara wrote down her address, 2D started up the Geep, and they rolled away.

They parked in front of Tara's house. "I'll see you. Stay here," Tara wrote on the pad, and left it on the seat. 2D nodded. "I can't wait to see you again," he said. Tara smiled. She opened her door and went in. 2D turned on the radio and waited for Tara to come back visible. He leaned back in his seat.

He waited. And waited. And waited some more. He blinked. What was taking Tara so long? He wanted to keep waiting, but what if she was hurt? Or dead? And what if she just didn't like him anymore and was trying to get away from him? He was confused. He wasn't sure what he was going to do.

He waited a little longer. He was about to leave, dismayed, when the door opened again. His heart started to beat faster. "T... Tara?" he whispered. "The portal thing," Tara wrote shakily. "If there was one... it closed. Or never happened. 2D, I'm stuck here. I can't get back." 2D stared at the paper.

"We... we can go back to Kong!" 2D exclaimed. "Maybe you can get back the way I did," he said, sadness in his voice. "We have to try." "Okay... but I don't think so," Tara wrote. 2D sped back to Kong. "C'mon, Tara!" he said. They ran to his room.

"Okay. Sit there." 2D pointed to his bed. Tara sat down. "I don't think it will work... she mumbled. They waited. It seemed like an hour. Tara felt the roller-coaster feeling... but it stopped. She suddenly had a vision of a blue circle getting smaller and disappearing.

"Tara?! Tara?! Where are you?" 2D asked. Tara tried to call to him, but he couldn't hear... and suddenly she couldn't feel anything. She tried to hold on to the bed, but it was like she was disappearing...

"2D!!!!" she cried, but she felt herself becoming less and less... and finally she was nothing... nothing... not even a ghost.

"Where... where are you..." 2D whispered. Suddenly words appeared on the notepad. "Thanks for everything, 2D, but it's over for me."

"Tara... no..." 2D said, and started to cry. Poor kid could never keep a girlfriend.

The next day, he made a cardboard tombstone and stuck it out in the graveyard outside. "I miss you," he whispered. As he looked off into the distance, he could have sworn he saw Tara, smiling and waving like she was still there. But no, it was just a mirage.

"I'll never forget you..." he whispered. It was probably another hallucination, but he could have sworn he heard her answer. "I won't forget you either." 


End file.
